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This email may be cut off by your email provider. To see today's full MASSterList, click "View entire message" at the bottom, or view the online version here. By Jay Fitzgerald and Keith Regan 03/14/2018 Underground wires? | True mensch, true facts | Attleboro carnage

Happening Today   Delayed start times, Campion funeral, student walkouts, harassment commision   Storm-related items: -- The House of Representative, Senate, and offices for non-emergency state executive branch employees operate on an 11:00 a.m. delayed start time, a day after the most recent snow storm. -- Courts in Berkshire, Hampden and Hampshire counties open at their regular times on Wednesday, but all other courts will open at 10 a.m. The court system said additional changes may be announced after 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. -- Keolis Commuter Services and the MBTA will operate a regular commuter rail schedule. Passengers should check schedules at MBTA.com/winter before departing as clean up continues and minor delays are possible.   Non-storm items: -- A funeral mass is said for the late Chuck Campion, co-founder and chairman of the Dewey Square Group, followed by a post-funeral reception at the Harvard Club of Boston, 374 Commonwealth Ave.; funeral at St. Cecilia Roman Catholic Church, 18 Belvidere St., Boston, 10 a.m. -- Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight hears testimony on a bill that would create an independent commission to field reports of harassment and assault at the State House. Meeting was postponed from Tuesday afternoon, Hearing Room B-2, 2 p.m. -- High school students across the state hold school walkouts in the wake of last month’s mass shooting in Florida, with student, activists, and Episcopal clergy also rallying at Smith & Wesson headquarters, 2100 Roosevelt Ave., Springfield, 3 p.m. -- Fisheries and Wildlife Board meets with an agenda that includes a vote regarding dog regulations, discussion of species management on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuges, and new business concerning restoration ecology, Cronin Building, One Rabbit Hill Rd., Westborough, 1 p.m. -- Massachusetts Cultural Council holds a reception to celebrate its Amplify grant program, with Reps. Jeffrey Sanchez, Mary Keefe, Denise Provost, Jay Livingstone and Carole Fiola expected to attend, Room 350, 4 p.m. -- WCVB's Janet Wu moderates a panel with mayors Kim Driscoll of Salem, Ruthanne Fuller of Newton, Yvonne Spicer of Framingham and Lynda Tyer of Pittsfield at an event co-hosted by the UMass Boston Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy and the Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus, UMass Club, One Beacon St., Boston, 4:30 p.m. -- The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources will accept public comment on its guidelines for renewable energy systems on agricultural land, 5 p.m. -- WGBH News State House reporter Mike Deehan asks trivia questions about news and current events at an open-to-the-public event at Boston Public Library's Newsfeed Café, 700 Boylston St., Boston, 6:30 p.m. -- Pete Souza, the White House photographer to former President Barack Obama, visits the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate to discuss his book ‘Obama: An Intimate Portrait,’ Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, Columbia Point, Boston, 7 p.m. -- Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is interviewed on ‘NightSide,’ WBZ NewsRadio 1030, 8 p.m. For more calendar listings, check out State House News Service’s Daily Advances (pay wall) and MassterList’s Beacon Hill Town Square below.

Today's News

Storm outages, damage, delays and more …   As of earlier this morning, there were still 135,000 customers without power, most of them on the Cape, following yesterday’s latest nor’easter storm, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, and utilities says it could take days to restore everyone’s electricity, reports the Herald. The Cape was so hammered yesterday that officials had to open three emergency shelters for residents, the Globe reports. Meanwhile, the Cape Cod Times has much more on yesterday’s storm. The MBTA had ‘relative success’ yesterday in keeping services running, although the transit system was working on an ‘extremely reduced’ schedule, as the Globe reports. The BBJ reports that the three storms that have hit the region of late have cost Massachusetts businesses nearly $1 billion. The BBJ also reports on the hundreds of flights that were cancelled at Logan yesterday, as well as suspended Amtrak service, all of which contributed to loss of business, obviously.  Finally, South Shore towns report they’ve plowed past their snow-removal budgets, reports the Patriot Ledger.

Is it time to starting talking again about underground electric lines?   With so many customers having lost power during the recent storms and with so much talk lately about the need for climate-change resiliency, we’d just like to ask: Is it time to also start talking about burying some of the state’s electric lines? We know it would be expensive and take decades. But if we’re talking about climate-change resiliency for shorelines and flood zones etc., shouldn’t underground electric lines also be in the climate-resiliency discussion mix? Just wondering.

OMG: St. Pat’s Day parade might be cancelled?   Speaking of storm catastrophes: Is this true? Is there an urgent update to the mayor’s comments from yesterday afternoon? From Catherine Carlock at the BBJ: “The city of Boston is debating whether to cancel Sunday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in South Boston in the aftermath of Tuesday’s blizzard, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh said at a press conference (Tuesday) afternoon. The city will ‘play it by ear’ to determine whether enough snow has been removed to safely host the parade, Walsh said.” BBJ

Pennsylvania race too close to call   Fyi: A much-watched special U.S. House election in Pennsylvania was too close to call as of this morning, the NYT and the Washington Post report. The race is of national and even local interest, considering U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton’s support of the Democratic candidate in the contest, and expect a blizzard of analysis about what the eventual outcome means for this fall’s mid-term elections.

The war isn’t over: Attleboro police say opioid deaths up 200 percent   We're bumping this up because of the startling numbers involved. Read it. In a stark deviation from data suggesting some slowing of the opioid epidemic statewide, police in Attleboro say that city saw a 200 percent spike in fatal overdoses in 2017, Rick Foster reports in the Sun Chronicle. The department says it recorded 39 overdose deaths last year, while the overall number of overdoses rose about 10 percent.  Thirty-nine overdose deaths in Attleboro alone? If these were local casualty numbers from a far-off war, there would be angry anti-war protests in the streets demanding a stop it. Sun Chronicle

Sen. Donoghue officially applies for Lowell post, race to replace her unofficially begins   This was expected but it's still news. From Christopher Scott at the Lowell Sun: “Sen. Eileen Donoghue could make history later this month by becoming the city's first female city manager. Ending weeks of speculation, Donoghue said Tuesday she's a candidate for the job that another former state legislator, Kevin Murphy, is vacating April 1. ‘I am looking forward to the process,’ the former city councilor and mayor said. ‘We'll see how the City Council wants to proceed.” Fyi: There is almost no doubt that the council will “proceed” by hiring her, thus sparking a major scramble for her Senate seat. Lowell Sun

Last stand: Feds try to salvage City Hall extortion case today   The federal extortion case against two top City Hall staffers will all come down to how a judge interprets federal laws in his jury instructions – and federal prosecutors today will argue the judge has it wrong. The Herald’s Bob McGovern has the details on prosecutors’ “last-ditch bid” to save their case. Boston Herald

Deval Patrick: A true mensch?   The Globe’s Jeff Jacoby, as a conservative, surveys the Democratic field of potential presidential candidates for president and concludes that former Gov. Deval Patrick isn’t all that bad compared to others, including U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. “What we do know is that he is a mensch, and that he knows how to disagree in politics without being disagreeable. These days, that’s no small thing.” Patrick could also run just to the right of most other Dems, stressing economic-growth and other centrist issues, and still pick up a huge portion of the progressive and, especially, African-American vote. Boston Globe

True fact: Republican Diehl was once (and rather recently) a true-blue Democrat   The Globe’s Frank Phillips casually reviews the voting record of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Geoff Diehl, who served as Donald’s Trump’s campaign co-chair in Massachusetts in 2016, and finds a curious thing: Diehl was pretty much a reliable Democratic until recently. A lot of tap dancing takes place after Phillips lays out the facts. Boston Globe

Student walkouts planned for today (though not on the Cape)   Students across the state plan to stage a school walk-out today in support of gun control measures in the wake of last month’s mass school shooting in Florida. The action, part of a nationwide student protest supported by political groups in support of gun control, will include students in Boston (Herald) and across the state (SHNS – pay wall), some of whom plan to protest outside the headquarters of Smith & Wesson in Springfield. Walkouts are also planned in, among other places, Chicopee (MassLive) and central Mass. (Telegram). The Globe’s Michael Levenson reports on how some school administrators are struggling to “strike a balance between giving students space to express their beliefs while not endorsing views that might offend some other students and parents.” But yesterday’s storm has scuttled plans for walkouts on the Cape, the Cape Cod Times reports.

Is Harvard Broken? Let some alums count the ways   Boston Magazine lets five prominent Harvard University alums, one of them Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu, uncork a bit about what they’d like to see from Harvard, now that it’s about to get a new president, Lawrence Bacow. Wu wants closer ties to Boston. Two alumni are furious at what they see as a PC culture run amok at the university. Another wants Harvard to open a campus in China. Boston Magazine

In Lexington, South Asians score election gains   Arun Rath at WGBH looks at how residents of South Asian origin have gain outsized political power in the historic town of Lexington, where such residents make up just 5 percent of the population but hold 10 percent of the seats in local government. Rath points to local leaders and community groups that helped get candidates involved and says the success in Lexington could soon be replicated in other communities with growing South Asian populations. WGBH

Healey joins other AGs in calling for restoration of TPS   From Antonio Planas at the Herald: “Attorney General Maura Healey has joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in sending a letter to U.S. congressional leaders calling for the restoration of temporary protective status for natives of El Salvador and Haiti. ‘The Trump administration’s cruel decision to end Temporary Protective Status for these countries is a tragedy for thousands of families in Massachusetts and across the country,’ Healey said yesterday in a statement.” Boston Herald     Meanwhile, judge tosses Healey’s suit against Trump administration over birth control   From the Associated Press at WBUR: “A federal judge has tossed the Massachusetts attorney general's lawsuit against President Trump's administration over rules allowing more employers to to opt out of providing no-cost birth control to women. U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton ruled against Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey on Monday. Gorton said the state lacks standing to sue.” WBUR Duh? Governor Charlie Baker, running for re-election, has FULL FAITH....? Charlie Baker PUNTS! STOP GIVING CHARLIE BAKER A FREE PASS FOR HIS INCOMPETENCE.  Wasn't this NO BID? Governor Charlie Baker is incapable of MANAGING! Sorry, Charlie! This is a NON-ANSWER. The governor, who said he believed the bathroom was installed, in part, because of the (MBTA) fiscal management control boards' hours-long meetings,   offered that the agency, overall, has been saving Massachusetts money.  So they save money elsewhere and can misspend on an unneessary bathroom? WORTH READING IN ITS ENTIRETY FOR CHARLIE'S NON-ANSWERS:     About that $100,000 bathroom, Part III: Baker says costs not out of line   From Shannon Young at MassLive: “Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said he has ‘full faith and confidence’ in how the state's Department of Transportation handles taxpayer dollars in wake of criticism the agency has received for adding a $100,000 bathroom to its downtown Boston office.  The governor told The Republican's editorial board last week that while he understands why some may be upset by MassDOT's decision to install the restroom, he believes it was needed and that the costs associated with the project seem on par with that type of construction.”   MassLive

Today's Headlines   Metro   Feds scramble to prove city extortion case today - Boston Herald Quincy pays $125K in downtown claim - Patriot Ledger   Massachusetts   Police: Opioid deaths up sharply in Attleboro - Sun Chronicle Answering the call: As region’s legislative clout dwindles, 33-year-old Lesser emerges as leader - Hampshire Gazette Williams College names Maud Mandel, dean at Brown, as new president - Berkshire Eagle With focus on education aid, Marie McCourt of Granby declares she’s running for state rep - MassLive Worcester’s crime rate continues to drop - Telegram & Gazette       Nation   Penn. House election too close to call with candidates separated by a couple hundred votes - Washington Post In California, Trump attacks Jerry Brown and ‘sanctuary policies’ - New York Times

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